Traction-engine.



No. 887,303. PATENTBD MAY 12, 1908.- J. B. BARTHOLOMBW.

TRACTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 14. 1907; I v

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1m ummy J U,

zgflwzza' Wi W NJ. 5%,. MRMQJ W 1n: mmms ps-rsns co.,'wAsHmG1oN. n. c.

No 887,303. PATENTED MAY 12, 1908.

J. B. BARTHOLOMEW.

TRACTION ENGINE. APPLICATION rum: we. 14. 19 7.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

K mm 4 a ewfl;

UNITED STATES PATENT ICE.

JOHN B. BARTHOLOMEW, OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'lO AVERY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

TRACTION-ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 12, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. BARTHOLO- MEW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Peoria, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Traction-Engines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to improvements in traction engines, particularly engines of the class wherein the shafting, gearing, and other relatively movable parts are mounted upon a frame which supports the boiler and steam generating and collecting parts, more or less independently of the shaftmg and gearing.

Engines of the sort more particularly re ferred to are illustrated and described in the Patents, Nos. 842,589 and 842,840, issued to W. N. Springer on January 29, 1907, assignor to Avery Manufacturing Company. With these engines Ihave had an extended experience and the improvements herein set forth have resulted therefrom. These engines are used, first, for locomotion and transportation and, secondly, when stationary, as prime motors for driving other machinery. When used as stationary motors, the power is taken from the main shaft or crank shaft by means of a belt. This crank shaft is located in a relatively low horizontal lane in order to be mounted upon the strong ower framework. This relatively low position for the crank shaft brings the band wheel to such place that a large part of it lies in horizontal planes below the top planes of the front ground wheels of the engine.

When the engine is used as a stationary motor, the driving belt, which is fitted to this wheel, is so situated that it would contact with the stationary ground wheel unless special provision be made for the mounting of the latter. This provision has generally consisted in elongating the crank shaft and placing the fly-wheel at a considerable distance out from the bearings in the framework. There is a limit, however, in this respect, as it is difficult to mount the shaft and the heavy fly-wheel so as to run steadily and accurately when the wheel is at a distance from the bearin s. And hence it has been necessary to so p ace the front ground wheel, which would otherwise aline with the flywheel, that it shall be comparatively close to the central vertical longitudinal plane of the engine. Then, to com ensate for such placing of the righthan( ground wheel, that upon the left side of the engine has also been situated relatively close to the central vertical plane. In other words, the two ground wheels have been brought as close together as possible. This, in turn, introduced a dif- 'liculty in getting sufficient clearance room for steering; that is, for turning the ground wheels. around the vertical axis of their carriers so as to permit of a short turn of the engine; and, consequently, in the operative traction engines of this type use has had to be made of narrowed frames, and in the successful ones it has been necessary to extend the narrow frame forward from the main frame, and to points in front of the boiler. It will be seen that all of these matters have grown out or resulted from the fact that one of the front ground wheels is in the path of one of the strands of the belt.

The object of the present improvements is to provide a belt-supporting and guiding mechanism of such nature that the front ground wheels can be so arranged as to provide a wide base of support for the engine at the front end and for the belt moving to and from the crank shaft or fly-wheel without danger of contact with the ground wheel. This opens the field to the designer to place his crank shaft and fly-wheel or band-wheel as low as he desires and to arrange the ground wheels as far back as he deems advisable and as far out from the central vertical plane of the engine as he sees fit.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a traction engine embodying my im rovements, some of the parts thereof being i lustrated conventionally. Fig. 2 is an elevation from the front end. Fig. 3 is a conventional or diagrammatic view showing both the engine and the threshing machine and their connecting belt. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the belt supporting and guiding devices in a plane transverse to the axis of the boiler.

Inasmuch as the details of the several parts of the mechanism of the sort indicated in the drawings are well understood, and particularly as they are described and illustrated in the aforesaid patents, Nos. 842,589 and 842,840, to W. N. Springer, it is not necessary to here set them forth with particularity. Reference may be made to the said earlier patents for a full understanding of such details. Suffice it to say that A indiv oppositeinclinations.

cates the ground driving wheels, B the framework, C the boiler, D the cab, E the engine mechanism, F the crank shaft, G the shafting and gear intermediate of the crank shaft and the gear H on the driving wheels, I, I the front supporting and steering wheels, and J the fly-wheel or band-wheel.

It will be seen that the crank shaft F is in a relatively low horizontal plane, being mounted a short distance above the side bars of the main frame B. It will also be observed that as the crank shaft is in such relatively low position the band-wheel J is comparatively near the ground. This is characteristic of engines of this type, namely, supporting all of the heavy rotary power-transmitting gearing and shafting on the main frame and independently of the boiler so as to relieve the latter of the strains experienced with engines in which such gearing and shafting are mounted directly upon the boiler shell.

The horizontal lane of the tops of the front ground whee s I, I is above the lower part of the band-wheel and is in fact generally above the crank shaft and its bearing. And if the right hand front ground wheel I were in the longitudinal lines of the bandwheel, it would be difficult if not impossible to employ a driving belt for the transmission of power from the engine. Hence, as above set forth, in engines of this class it has been necessary to narrow the space between the two front driving wheels so as to'take them as far as ossible inside of the vertical planes of the drlving belt and at the same time to lace the fly-wheel as far out from the main frame as possible, the crank shaft being correspondingly extended. This I obviate by employing the belt-su porting and guiding devices shown at K an so arranging the belt L in relation to the driving wheel and the driven Wheel that the lower strand Z thereof shall be slack and in contact with this support and guide.

M is a bracket standard which rises from the main frame and supports the front end of the boiler. It is formed with an arm N which extends laterally from the bracket and is turned u ward as shown at n. It has two studs or p1n shafts 0 arranged to stand at Upon these are placed two peculiarly-shaped pulleys P. Each is formed with a main conical body part 10 and a flange p at the smaller end of the cone. The cones are so shaped and arranged that the uppermost lines of their surfaces lie in a horizontal plane and consequently they are adapted to support the belt while flat.

When the engine is in operation the flywheel rotates in the direction of the arrow and the stress is exerted upon the 11 per strand 1 of the belt. This throws the s ack to the lower strand Z and permits this strand to be drawn up at a sharp angle from the belt-wheel to the supporting guide at K. The

use of this guide also increases the grip of the belt upon the band-wheel and'prevents the slippage so frequently experienced with the long belts that are interposed between engines and threshers.

What I claim is,

1. In a traction engine having the relatively elevated boiler and the relatively low main frame whereon are mounted independently of the boiler, the engines, the crank shaft and the shafting and gearing intermediate of the crank shaft and the ground wheels, the combination of the front ground wheels arranged outside of the vertical lanes of the sides of the boiler, the crank sha't, the fly-wheel or band-wheel on the crank shaft having its lower parts in horizontal planes below the horizontal plane of the tops of the ground wheels and in vertical longitudinal planes of one of the ground wheels, and the belt-support and guide above the horizontal plane of the top of the groundwheels and supported on the main frame of the engine and adapted to sustain the slack side or strand of the belt passing to and from the band wheel, substantially as set forth.

2. In an undermounted engine of the class described, the combination with the main frame and the brackets for sustaining a boiler in elevated position, of the transverse crank shaft on the main frame, the fly-Wheel or beltwheel on the crank shaft, the front ground wheels arranged to have their tops above the horizontal plane of the bottom of the beltwheel, one of said ground wheels being in the longitudinal vertical planes of the belt-wheel, the belt guide in transverse planes between the front ground wheels and the belt-wheel and supported on one of the said engine brackets at points above the horizontal plane of the to of the ground wheels, and arranged to ho d the slack part of the belt against the periphery of the belt-wheel and to carry the belt at a relatively sharp angle upward there from and guide it over the top of the last said ground wheel, substantiallyas set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN B. BARTHOLOMEW.

Witnesses:

G. W. BARRY, Jr. A. L. GREGORY. 

